District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said Friday that she attended a luncheon meeting about two years ago at the Coronado home of a wealthy Mexican businessman tied to a scheme to illegally funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars into her failed bid for mayor.

While she said her recollection of the details are sketchy, Dumanis insisted in an interview that no requests or demands were made of her by José Susumo Azano Matsura during the meeting that occurred early on in the 2012 campaign.

As many as 10 people were there but Dumanis did not recall who most of them were, nor could she remember if there was more than one meeting.

She was introduced to Azano by Ernesto “Ernie” Encinas, a retired police detective and a longtime acquaintance of Dumanis. He was booked on a federal conspiracy charge this week for allegedly trying to move money from a foreign national into various political campaigns, including Dumanis’. That money has been tied to Azano.

Dumanis reiterated that she knew nothing about the money, much of which was put into an independent campaign committee she did not control, until the federal complaints were announced Tuesday.

“I do remember the purpose was to get to know him,” she said of the meeting. “He spoke mostly and he told me what he was and he likes to do. Encinas made the introduction because he worked for the guy. He (Azano) was interested in the campaign and he dropped a lot of names.”

In addition to Encinas, two others were brought up on federal charges for trying to funnel some $500,000 from a foreign national illegally into campaigns for mayor and Congress: Ravneet Singh, who owns a Washington, D.C.-based campaign-services firm; and City Hall lobbyist Marco Polo Cortes.

About $200,000 was contributed to bolster Dumanis’ 2012 mayoral candidacy, about half of which went to the independent committee, according to a federal complaint. The remainder went to a social media effort that was never listed on campaign reports.

Over the years, Dumanis says she’s met with hundreds of people about her campaigns but doesn’t make a point of asking them why they’re interested in contributing.

“I try to get them interested the campaign, but (Azano) said he lived in the San Diego County area so he was concerned about it. I think he does business here. He talked about some kind of software he was working on in Mexico. Nothing that happened was unusual to me in any way.”

Since first being elected district attorney in 2002, Dumanis has not had to face a challenger, although in 2010, law enforcement unions declined to endorse her even though she was running unopposed. Her most formidable challenger in her current re-election bid is Robert Brewer, a former prosecutor who is now in private practice specializing in civil litigation and white-collar defense work. He has been endorsed by a number of law enforcement unions.

Dumanis, who is running for a fourth term as district attorney, has returned $1,400 she received from Encinas and his wife for her re-election bid. But said she could not return the $1,000 she received from him for the 2012 mayor’s race because that account has long since been closed out.

Dumanis said Encinas, who has consulted for a number of nightclubs for his security business, wanted to see the process for acquiring liquor licenses accelerated. But she said his concern was no different from that expressed by other people in the hospitality industry.

“Yes, he did talk about liquor licenses, but every business talked about how long it took to get a permit or this license,” said Dumanis, who remembered that everyone sat around a large table but remembers little else about Azano’s Coronado home or where exactly it was.

“I talked to a lot of business people who had liquor licenses and they groused about it,” she said. “He was making me aware that there was a need to have changes at City Hall as to the process, and I’m a big process person.”

Authorities say Encinas took part in the financial scheme to get San Diego Police Chief Bill Lansdowne fired. He appeared to want a new chief who would be more lenient on alcohol licenses and entertainment restrictions, sources say.

“Ernie never brought up Lansdowne. At one of the (mayoral) debates, we were asked, ‘Would you hire someone new or keep Lansdowne,’ and I said I’d keep Lansdowne. Ernie never asked for anything, he just wanted to be helpful.”

Dumanis said she is angry about her name being linked to individuals who are alleged to have engaged in illegal activities in order to influence a political race.

“It makes me angry that I would be mentioned in the same breath as people who went to such extreme lengths to violate the law,” she said. “It makes me outraged and if the allegations are true, they should be held accountable.”

According to a news report by Voice of San Diego, former San Diego Mayor Bob Filner also met with Azano at his Coronado home. The meeting, reported Voice, took place weeks before Azano is alleged to have directed $340,000 in illegal donations to Filner’s successful mayoral bid. Property records show that Azano has two Coronado addresses.

While Dumanis said she doesn’t remember much about what was discussed at her meeting, she clearly recalls seeing Azano’s collection of ultra luxurious cars and listening to his detailed descriptions of them.

“What I do remember is he had a lot of fancy cars, he was very proud of them and he gave me the history of each one,” said Dumanis. “They were even more expensive than Maseratis. I think there were four of them, and I love cars and I didn’t even know those cars.”